Virtual Visits

Marissa would love to visit your school virtually! She’s currently in the British GMT+ time zone but is happy to set up a talk in the early morning or early afternoon in all US time zones. 

Send a Classroom Letter to Marissa

If the whole class sends Marissa a letter, she will respond back with a handwritten letter addressed to the class with a drawing. This is a free and fun way for students to connect directly with Marissa.

Ambitious Girl Talk and Draw

Grade level: k, 1, 2, or 3

Duration: 1 Hour

Student preparation: Read Ambitious Girl together beforehand and have a discussion about strong female influences. On the day of the event, please provide each student with a pencil, paper, and a surface to draw on (like a clipboard, hardback book, or desk) for the live drawing portion of the virtual visit.

• Marissa starts with a reading of Ambitious Girl and explains what makes up a picture book. Marissa then gives a short presentation about the female influences shown in the book, strong female influences in her life, and what ambitious dreams she had as a kid. 

•  About halfway through, she’ll start a live drawing demonstration where she draws out three ambitious professions the students have. (ex. Ava wants to be a dolphin trainer, Michael wants to be a paleontologist, Suri wants to be a bird). The teacher will need to ask the students for these “ambitions” beforehand and relay that information to Marissa at least 3 days before the virtual visit. 

•  Marissa also strongly encourages the students to have a pencil and paper at hand for the live drawing session to follow along. Marissa will narrate how she draws, why she uses certain shapes, and how the sketching process works during the lesson. 

•  If there is time, the visit will end with a Q&A.

Fee: $300/hr

How do you make a Book? 

Grade level: 4, 5, 6 or older (please let me know if you’d like this presentation for high school age students as I can modify it for an older group).

Duration: 1 Hour

Student preparation: Marissa recommends reading one of her books together before the visit to familiarize students with her work. On the day of the event, please provide each student with a pencil, paper, and a surface to draw on (like a clipboard, hardback book, or desk) for the live drawing portion of the virtual visit.

• Marissa starts off with a short presentation of her journey as an artist: where she went to school, how she got her jobs and how she supports herself. She then shows the process of creating the children’s book, Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective and talks about what it’s like to work with publishers, editors and art directors. 

• About halfway through, she’ll start a live drawing demonstration where she demonstrates how you would create a spot illustration for a book. She’ll prompt the students for words to include in a mad lib style sentence for the art making process. 

  • ____ went to ____ baking school. They enjoyed making ____. Until they found out that… their ingredients were made out of ____! 

• Marissa also strongly encourages the students to have a pencil and paper at hand for the live drawing session as they are encouraged to follow along. Marissa will narrate how she draws, why she uses certain shapes, and how the sketching process works during the lesson.

• If there is time, the visit will end with a Q&A.

 Fee: $300/hr

Guidelines / FAQ

What do I need to do before the virtual visit?

• Marissa uses Zoom for her virtual visits. Please set up the Zoom session and send the Zoom link to Marissa at least 3 days in advance before the scheduled virtual visit.

• Schedule a 15 minute technical check with Marissa during the week leading up to the virtual visit. This is very important in order to ensure the event the day of goes smoothly.

• For Ambitious Girl Talk and Draw: Send the three ambitious careers chosen by students to Marissa at least 3 days in advance.

• Q&A questions do not need to be sent to Marissa in advance. She is happy to take questions live from students at the end of a virtual visit as time allows.

Can I record the virtual session?

• Virtual sessions may not be recorded without prior written consent from Marissa. Please reach out beforehand for permission if you’d like to record the virtual visit. Recorded virtual events may only be shown within the school. The link may not be posted publicly.

Will Marissa sign books purchased at a virtual event?

• Marissa can send signed bookplates to teachers to distribute to students who have purchased books, for books that have been purchased within 30 days of the virtual visit. Marissa is not currently set up to directly sign books purchased at virtual events, and is happy to send signed bookplates as an alternative.

Wow! That event was awesome. I have pictures I’d love to share with you.

• Marissa would love to see pictures from the event! She would be happy if schools shared photos from the virtual visit on social media after the event. You can tag her here: Instagram: @marissaarts Twitter: @marissaillo

Register for a Virtual Visit

If you’d like to discuss having Marissa visit your school virtually, or for more information on virtual visits, feel free to contact Marissa by submitting the form below.